The Yankees are the movie Family Plot with hot, upcoming stars Bruce Dern, William Devane, and Karen Black. Alfred Hitchcock is the master suspense and this is his greatest movie about a man obsessed with a blonde since ever! The Yankees are Tupac’s last posthumously released album featuring Papoose, Lil’ Scrappy and Big Syke. Hear what Tupac never wanted you to hear in a way he never meant for you to hear it ever! The Yankees are the leftover stuffing from your 2010 Thanksgiving that you ate then pooped into a Tupperware container and decided to see what it would be like in two years in your freezer. They are so done that done called and said, “Nuh-uh, don’t be comparing me to them or we’re done.” Add Derek Jeter to the list of the Yankees MASH unit that are wearing fatigues. It’s now being reported Jeter could miss a big part of April. He won’t appear in a minor league game until next week and Cashman said Jeter needs to play in back-to-back games for nine innings before being activated. Jeter can’t even play in a few innings per week, let alone back-to-back nine-inning games. I think the next guy to come down with an ailment is Cashman, as he tries to move to another team that is on the precipice of greatness. “Arte, I like what you did with Trout, Pujols and Hamilton, have you thought about spending $350 million on Miggy?” Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in spring training for fantasy baseball:

Phil Hughes – Will begin season on the DL. When it was originally announced that he was injured, it sounded much worse and I dropped him out of a favorable pitching tier. Knowing what I know now, I probably would’ve left his ranking and projections alone. He looks like he’ll only miss one start and will be fine to pitch as early as April 11th. I’m not going to move him back at this late in the game. I’m no flimflamming flip-flopper (say that fast 457 times!). Honestly, I don’t regret not drafting him. He could be fine but the Yankees look like a worse reclamation project than Jeff Luhnow inherited.

Justin Turner – Left yesterday’s game with a strained calf. I was looking at the Mets lineup yesterday, and, well, the new Mets are the same as that old mess. It’s not gonna be a good year for baseball in New York. The scariest part is the Mets are dealing with infield injuries, so what’s the excuse for Marlon Byrd being a starting outfielder? Valdespin has nice potential, but he’s platooning? There’s hope for Cowgill or Nieuwenswedenhuis, but Byrd? Only time I want to see Byrd on the field for the Mets is if the Mets hire Paul Byrd as their pitching coach so their jerseys read Ma. Byrd and Pa. Byrd.

Evan Gattis – Earned the backup catcher job in Atlanta. Here’s what Scott, our prospect writer, said, “It seems kinda crazy for me to be ranking a 26-year-old (6th overall for Braves prospects), but Gattis has done enough over the past year to convince me that he’s the top bat in this system. After destroying Carolina League pitching to the tune of a 1.289 OPS, he stepped up to Double-A where he managed a .865 OPS. Gattis spent the winter playing in the Venezuelan League and continued mashing: .303/.365/.595 with 16 HR in 211 PA. Meanwhile, I spent my winter playing with my Grey voodoo doll. Hot foot!” No wonder why I thought I had gonorrhea on my foot all winter! Man, I gotta read these posts better. Gattis looks like he has nice power, but right now he’s stuck platooning with Laird, and will eventually be behind McCann. For now, he’s a decent last round flyer for two-catcher leagues.

Andrew Cashner – Sadly, the Padres have no self-esteem and don’t want to be better, so Cashner may not make the rotation. Right now, Tyson Ross is in the lead for the last rotation spot. Maybe the San Diego Chicken had something to do with this because I hear he’s related to Tyson.

Jeff Locke – Won the 5th starter job on the Pirates. Locke is the Smoke Monster, as in if you draft him you must be smoking some monster spliff.

Blake Beavan – The Mariners were asked what they were going to do with the 5th starter spot and they said, “We’re gonna leave it to the Beavan!”

Michael Morse – Went deep for the 8th time this spring. That matches Brandon Belt for the most in Spring Training. I’m thinking of bumping them both up to between Ryan Braun and Mike Trout. That link takes you to my theory, “You can put a bowl of crap in one hand and spring training stats in the other and see which one weighs more.” Man, I should write greeting cards.

Alexei Ramirez – Left yesterday’s game after being plunked by a pitch. Eric Plunk, “You owe me a nickel.” Alexei has a bruised shoulder, which isn’t nearly as delicious as a braised shoulder. He says he should be ready for Opening Day.

Vance Worley – Will be the Twins Opening Day starter. The Twins said, “Well, we gotta start someone.” Kidding. Sorta. The Twins CTRL + F for the word “ugly” and they find their staff, but I do like Worley. In moderation. Don’t go crazy with yourself.

Willie Bloomquist – To the DL with a strained oblique. Appropriate since you can’t spell oblique without Willie Bloomquist.

A.J. Burnett – Announced this may be his swan song. He said, “My kids are 9 and 12 now. I’m sure if I mention retiring to them, they’d say, ‘No, keep playing….” When his kids were pressed for an explanation, they noted that, “He has all the skills to be a great father, but it’s just so frustrating that he never reaches his full potential.”

Did another Mock Draft. Got shafted with ill timed catcher SS and second base runs. Missed out on Asdrubal Cabrera, Sal Perez and Danny Espinosa respectively. How do you think I did overall though? 12 team CBS ROTO.

@Gareth: How did you get Trout, Fielder, Bautista and Longoria. I have seen all 4 go in the first round. That is crazy for a 12 team league, and to add Encarnarcion, Holliday, BJ Upton and Choo. Not to mention your solid pitching staff. Were you drafting with the mentally challenged? You definitely will have to trade some OF’s but this team is unreal. Have fun at the top all year.

I’m in a quandry. I know you are not a fan of either Hellickson, Haren or Tim Lincecum and they are ALL on my team. Can I package any of these guys into a nice neat bow for a pitching upgrade? I also have a few dreggy closers in League, Parnell and Frieri that are expendable.

I’m thinking a package of Lincecum, Hellickson and Parnell for Darvish.
Or Haren and Frieri for Wainwright.
Haren and Parnell for Latos.

@Gareth: sorry didn’t read your question properly… i would target a manager who actually needs a closer and you might be able to do a SP+closer for an SP… you might want to aim a little lower, a seasoned fantasy player wouldn’t do any of those trades…

Parnell will not get someone excited enough for saves to give up a major piece in return. He is a mediocre pitcher at best with value because he has the closer spot for now. I bet you someone else gets a shot at some point including Jose Mesa Jr., Frank Francisco.

@Gareth: all 4 are garbage… Injury prone, Injury prone and old, Injury prone and a met, and kendrick is ok for a MI or bench bat… and no you shouldn’t drop one of your two injury prone 2B’s for those 2, wait until they get injured first…

@Gareth: I like Kendrick, its all about what stats you need, i wouldn’t trust Utley and Weeks is going to be a BA drain with high injury risk. If you need BA and want to take a flyer on Kendrick then i would go for him. The Sciossiopath factor could have him end up in the two hole between Trout and Pujols and thats a nice place to be, if it happens. Worth the risk to me

@Gareth: He’s got a quick bat but what I hated about him was that his BA drops like 100 -150 points with runners on base/in scoring position. So you end up with a guy hitting solo jacks and not much else except a handful of SBs.

Great read Grey. Posted the first of a couple teams drafted in another blog and you were fully impressed, this team was my least fav, esp that Rutlidge went 2 picks before me in RD 17 and I ended up w A. Simmons as my starting SS, not to mention I messed up completely at 3B, BUT, I did trade Cespedes for R. Zimm who we know you adore, ha ha ha. It was a huge need thing, anyhow…

Grey, for the team I drafted in the OPS league a few hours ago, once I am able to DL ortiz, would you advise picking up Mark Reynolds as a bench bat? I know you hate spring stats, but he appears to have locked up a favorable spot in the indians lineup and could be in line for some decent RBI numbers.

Reynolds will hit .205-.225 with 20-25 hrs. There is no reason (age, opportuntity, etc) that would suggest a spike over career averages. I would look to see if you can find someone with a bit more upside with Ortiz hitting the DL.

I kicked things off by taking Braun at 46, and that was probably the only thing I did right all night. After seeing Trout go for 60 and Cano for 56, I got a little bid shy and deviated from my initial plan of going stars and scrubs. Bad move.

Here are some things I think I did well: Braun and Goldschmidt.
Here are some things I think are neither good nor bad: Ryan Zimmerman.
Here are some things I think I did poorly: Drafted 5 relievers, one of which is injured. Drafted Troy Tulowitzki despite making a sticky note with the following inscription: “Do not draft Troy Tulowitzki.” Drafted a bench hitter that’s good enough to start. Paid $8 for Kenley Jansen for s’s and g’s. Punted 2B and now have a gaping hole there.

I’m assuming that you aren’t thrilled with my team, but I wanted to hear what you think anyway. So what are your thoughts?

@Lastros: I’ve never participated in this kind of format or in league with fewer than 14 teams, but the team doesn’t look to bad to me. You’ve got three 1B: why not shop Ike or Rizzo for an upgrade at 2B?

@Lastros: Gyorko’s a more exciting pick, and I’m curious to see what Grey suggests given your team. But I’d go with Bonifacio just because it looks like you need speed more than power. I’d take either of them over Murphy.

I still think it’s a waste to hold three good 1B, since it means you’ll always have to sit one of them. I’d try to trade one of them (Rizzo?) for Aaron Hill, or maybe Altuve or Rutledge if any of those make sense for anther team. If not, grab Bonifacio or Gyorko off waivers, drop Murphy, and try to make a package deal to grab a stud pitcher for one for Rizzo or Ike + Milone or Beckett.

BTW, did you see Detroit optioned Rondon to AAA Toledo? He’s probably worth dropping as well, now, in favor of a closer in waiting or some depth elsewhere.

No, I didn’t see that. Thanks for the update. I’ll drop him and try to grab Boggs off waivers.

I think I could get Altuve for cheap (Rutledge would be more difficult because I got into a pretty heated bidding war for him, and the owner is impossible to trade with). I really like Bonifacio’s SB upside in Toronto, so I might just roll with him and trade Rizzo/Davis for an upgrade elsewhere. I don’t see a significant dropoff from Altuve to Bonifacio this season (and, sadly, I’m an Astros fan).

Grabbing a top flight starter might be tough for that package because no one seems particularly high on Rizzo or Ike in my league. I’m not sure why. Hopefully once one or both of them start hitting, things will change.

thanks for all the input. these daily updates make getting up on teh morning so much easier.

Have just had a trade offer in a 10 team H2H league (we kept 8). It’s 7 x 7 (BB, TB, QS, HLDS). He gives Michael Bourn for Han Ram (don’t worry Grey I didn’t draft him, just kept him from last yr).

Roster – 3 x OF, 2 x Util, no MI or CI though. Bench has 7 spots.

Now, I’m overloaded with OF (Jones, Kemp, Trout, Stanton) but I’m tempted to go back and offer Han Ram for either Choo or Headley. (I have Zobrist and E Cabrera who are SS eligible, Altuve and Zobrist at 2B and Machado at 3B).

My 2 x Util spots are taken by Stanton and either Ike Davis or Hosmer.

Wow I’ve never seen so many comments this early. Using I’m the first or second. Anywho…

I know you don’t put much weight in spring training numbers, but I think if you narrow the scope you can find some useful information. I could care less about era and home runs but I do like to look at strike outs and walks, for both hitters and pitchers. One of the biggest indicators of an injury is decreased velocity and lack of command. Decreased F-strk% is part of this as well.

The second thing I look at is the performance of playing coming back from an injury. One example is Jose Bautista. While I normally wouldn’t put any weight in home runs, seeing that Bautista is hitting the ball with authority this spring gives me faith his wrist is healed.

I’m trying to upgrade at 2B (right now I have Bonifacio or Rutledge; if I play Rutledge at 2B that means using Nuñez/Cozart at SS) in a 14-team 6×6 league, and also try to pick up a strong starter to boot. I’ve got a nibble from another team (Yankees fan) with two 2B (Pedroia/Hill) and 6 good starters but a shallow OF.

Here are the permutations of a possible deal: I get Aaron Hill and Matt Moore in return for Beltran or Pence + Fiers or Milone or Griffin + ARod (my DL stash) and I give him around a 15th-round pick next year and he gives me a 17th-round or so pick.

Seems like a good deal for me. Do you agree? If so, what’s the best combination? I’m guessing Pence + Griffin + ARod, right? If he doesn’t go for the my first choice, what’s the best sweetener? A higher draft pick in 2014? Or maybe switching out one of the other players?

I honestly do not think that the yankees are “done”. Jeter and the Grandyman will be back in may. And If im not mistaken, no team is out of it in may. Unless your the stros’ and well yea, we don’t need to pick them apart anymore. All I am saying is that when the Yankees make the post season, I’m expecting a glass of scotch and a job offer from razzball.

With that being said, So glad the daily write-ups are back. Love the site. Do you have any deep middle relievers t get 30 plus holds. I am in a deeeeeeeep 16 team league and need some holds. Right now I hae benoit and albuqurque. Roto scoring by the way.

Grey…what kind of season do you see Morse having in Seattle?
Would you trade him for Utley?
There is more to this trade, but this part of the deal is holding me back. I’m thinking Morse is going to have a big year.

Morse has had a great spring, is healthy and the fences were moved in at Safeco. All signs pointing up for Morse. We have seen Utley’s best days. If you don’t have any other options at 2B, I would wait or ask for a piece coming back since there is always more OF depth on the wire…. But I am a big Morse buyer this year.

@Tio: Thanks for the response…I own Morse now and would be getting Utley. So this is the trade:
Mike Morse + Travis D’Arnaud

for

Chase Utley + Trevor Rosenthal

D’Arnaud can be kept for 5 years and Rosenthal can be kept for 7 years.
I like Morse this year…and I like Rosenthal for the long term…not sure if D’Arnaud is going to pan out or not….wish he was still a Jay.

Grey, Keep up the great info…It is my morning fix. If you had to pick a keeper for 2014 who would it be..I can keep as many as I choose. Harvey $4, Parker $6, Peavy $9, or Ryu $2? I already have Shelby Miller locked down for a long time. 10 man league if that changes anything! Thanks as always!

HMy prior comment also leads to focus on one player who has caught my eye: Jon Lester. Aside from the 5:1 K/BB ratio in 24 innings, the number that caught my attention was hits allowed. 8 hits in 24 innings. That’s ridiculous.

Are you buying into Lester this spring?

Would you still take the these pitchers in this order: Peavy, Lester, and Harvey.

hey hey Grey whattaya say?!
pumpedddd the baseball season starts within a week, totally crazy..
anyway, quick question.
in a 12 team keeper league. i drafted puig in the 23rd, and olt in the 25th. any of these two dudes worth hangin onto, despite them not being in the majors to start the year, for keepers for 2014?
thx!

Really want to see Cashner make the roto. Christ, they are sending the WHIP king in Volquez to open for them after he just walked 6 people in his last start. Why in the world would Cashner not be able to crack that rotation is beyond me.

I agree, but unfortunately, all signs point to Tyson Ross getting the Fifth spot.

Cashner is recovering from a scary injury. He nearly sliced his thumb off with a knife. In addition, he has never truly been stretched out before the injury bug has hit. While Cashner has little value as a Long reliever in fantasy baseball, I would hold onto him as it is only a matter of time before he gets a shot.

In my 15 team Keep 9 roto league (7×8 with OBP,SLG,K/9,QS), I need to DL fillers for Luebke and Hughes. Also maybe Cashner should go based on your note above? I have 5 bench spots, currently filled with 4 SP and Segura. Offence is fairly solid weakest spots would be Middlebrooks at 3B and Marte at LF. RP are Cishek,Perkins,D Robinson

Grey – I waited and waited and waited on SP and then a run went just before I planned my first. Madbum – Latos – Moore right before my turn. I blame Rudy, reached on Rizzo after a run of 1B and all I could hear was his voice through a crap phone connection talking 40 hrs.

Anyways, it’s a 10×10 standard scoring league. Here’s how my staff shakes out, could you let me know if I should panic or if everything’s going to be ok??? THANKS!!

Last – do I deal Gomez for a RP (it’s on the table) or drop Motte for Boggs and/or League? – I’m cash strapped otherwise I’d drop Lohse. Thoughts on my team (holes, needs) and this would be greatly appreciated! Have a good one!

Damn. Days away from first pitch and already need some of your ordinarily in-season pitching expertise! Feeling mighty blue this morning with potential Tiger closer Rondon sent down, coupled with the Pad’s sticking Cashner into a MR roll. Is this good enough news for your AlAl closer candidacy? Worthy of an immediate pick up in a limited moves league? Or let it play out…
& as far as Cashner’s thankless non-starter roll, to take his spot, has Hammel’s apparent healthy knee & opening day start vaulted him over similar tier starters like Griffin, Doubront, Tillman, McDonald & Norris? If not, who might you favor? Thanks!

Been thinking I need to backup 1B and SS and still would like another SP but also want to just draft the best team and want to use these last few spots wisely. Here’s who is out there that I’m thinking about right now. How would you approach these next few slots?

Ha! Grey, you just had to take my 2pac question from the other day and jam it back down my throat eh?

Phil Hughes and Garza each went undrafted in my league. I have Cuddyer as a bench bat (not sexy but he was available in the 23rd round so I took him). Would you drop Cuddyer, pick up Garza to stash on the DL, and then pick up Hughes?

Both Hughes and Garza are worthy of a stash if you have a DL slot. It sounds like Hughes is only going to miss 1-2 turns and Grey recently said he would not have lowered Hughes preseason rank had he known this fact back then.

Got a pretty cool dynasty league going. It’s a 12 team, 40 man roster, $300 salary, 5×5 OBP, with rookie drafts (gives 5 years ownership of player at MLB level) in addition to a RFA and FA draft that allows us to sign free agents to contracts at 10% yearly inflation. I have a couple guys I am contemplating giving an extra year to. Keep in mind these are guaranteed contracts so I wouldn’t be able to drop them til after next draft if I signed them. What do you think?

I don’t like Berkman and Beltran’s age/health, Gomez’ unpredictability, and Fowler’s lack of track record to actually steal bases or hit for double digit power (besides last year). But if I had to lean to one guy to resign I think it would be Fowler because of his upside/OBP skills. Also think I’m pulling the trigger on Rosenthal through 2015 at that price and upside.

will not rant this time about all the requests to rank a list of players but people please, do a little work, read grey’s ranks and do it yourself

re:yankees – Cashman is on the DL – he broke an ankle skydiving

ok, how about this weird question, weird situation

12 team std yahoo h2h league (non-keeper)
co-managing with amigo

one team has 11 closers (and only the good ones); 2 others have four
our team has closers perez, kenley jansen, boggs (via waivers) and al al (via waivers)

we have tex as a backup bench/util guy

do we drop tex to grab marmol (uggh) or veras (uggh) on the waiver wire? (you know, to keep competitive or get advantage with teams that have few/no closers, or as trade bait – or hold tex for like 2 months – team is ok everywhere else and we have room and it is a h2h league)

So I don’t know if this issue has been raised in the Comments to other posts, but is anyone else having trouble with the scripts that are running in the ads on Razzball pages, so that their browser freezes up? I’d say about half the time I go to a Razzball page, my browser freezes up and I have to shut it down and re-open. This happens on my Windows laptop, Windows desktop, and Mac laptop, with both Explorer and Firefox, so it doesn’t seem to be machine or browser specific. Anyone else having this issue? Anyone know how to fix it?
Thanks.

I would pickup Jansen and drop either. Berkman has little value in a keeper league beyond this year. If it is a points league, Jansen will have tremendous value with K’s even if he doesn’t get saves. I bet you he gets the closer role at some point this year.

Grey,
Yahoo league h2h-12 team. Would you take R.Zimmerman in the 7th . or pass and take Gordon or A.Jackson and then take Headley in the 10th and get Machado late to cover Headley’s DL stint? I’m slightly concerned about Zimm’s shoulder? I might get a DL stint there too.

hey grey, thanks for all the years of knowledge i finally won my league last year! im in a 10 team h2h points league. my offense is stacked but my question for you is do you think shelby miller is worth the add over teheran or miley – my starters are:
WAINWRIGHT
DICKEY
KENNEDY
BAILEY
VOGELSONG
MILEY
TEHERAN

Thoughts on my team? Its a 14team 6×6 (5×5 with holds & obp) 2 player keeper at his previous draft round for one year. I may be alittle heavy on speed and got a trainwreck of a bullpen. Should I add Al Al when Madson is officially put on the DL?

Would you drop Gardner to pick Matt Carpenter up ? Having Carpenter (and his 1B, 3B, OF and eventual 2B eligibilities) would enable me to have a replacement anytime I have a hitter (beside my catcher, of course) who gets an off day (I can put either Zobrist or Rutledge at SS, too). Or do I need Gardner’s speed more on my team ? In that case I could drop a pitcher (my bottom 3 SPs are Estrada, Shelby and Norris). I don’t like carrying many bench hitters though… Who would you drop, if any, for Carpenter ? Thanks !

Hey Grey, I offered Dan Haren, Everith Cabrera and Nolan Arenado for Alex Cobb and Martin Prado. This Its a good trade or am I giving up too much? Haren’s brutal spring and low velocity scare me, not to mention the possible back injury.

Very strange draft for me. Historically I always take power over speed. This year looks like I’m speed heavy ad power light. Hence the Dunn and Carter picks.

I always pick upside guys earlier but this year they were going CRAZY early (Rutledge in round 8?) So I missed out on a bunch of them, especially pitchers (which is how I wound up with AJ Burnett and Bud Norris on my bench).

JUST missed out on Adam Jones in the 4th, so I rushed and grabbed Goldy even though I already had Votto. Just missed Frazier and D. Brown so Swisher was a rush pick. I think I have 5 guys who can play 1B.

I waited until the last round of the draft to take Jason Castro…. not realizing someone took him in round 22. Suzuki was literally the only starting C left. Even Ramos was taken before him. Before the draft I petitioned to change it to a 1C league and was D-nied.

When Luebke officially goes on the DL, I’ll have an extra spot for a pitcher. I already have Al Al, but would you add Benoit (or Coke or Dotel), too, just to cover the bases? Other options would be a SP such as Ryu, Doubront, Tillman, Norris or EJax, or another RP like Cook or Pestano.

The Det. closer job looks messy. I forsee this being a true tossup with someone grabbing hold of the job and running with it. The Tigers are a premier team so we could be looking at the 2013 version of Fernando Rodney.

History dictates that righties usually do better in these situations and it is made easier by Coke’s horrible peripherals including getting crushed by RHs. I honestly would rank Dotel ahead of Benoit (leyland dismissed using him as Closer in January) but the real closer could not be on the current roster. This one is a mess folks but should be monitored.

I love your sense of humor. You had me laughing so loud my wife was asking me what’s going on !
Steinbrenner’s kid must have resented dad spending one of his billions on the Yankee’s team over the year’s he was alive. Now he’s like my dog when he get’s a whiff of something smelling bad,he lifts his leg and pisses on it. Yankee’s on the line. What do they want? Need a 3B. Tell them to take out what’s left of petty cash and buy Youklis. He’s on sale at E-bay.
I heard he build a castle in upper New York. Now the villager’s are gathering and stock piling torches. Word is there is talk of a Frankensteinbrenner monster being created in the castle. Rumor’s concerning a sighting of Igor up on the castle wall were dismissed. It was only Yogi Berra on a visit. The villager’s are gathering though, and I see a castle storming coming to get the Frankensteinbrenner monster very soon.

@Grey: and with a name like that it’s like picking on the fat kid, unless the fat kid can kick your ass, which I ‘ve seen happen more times than not. I keep seeing his name when I go into ESPN for RCL.

Just drafted last night, NL only keeper 6×6 league. Players with obvious low values were my keepers they have a + next to name. Plan was to be dominant in hitting and middle of the pack pitching as this worked for me in the past when I won 4 years straight.

Not sure if i can talk about other RCL teams in my league, is it like fight club?

Who cares, I will deal with the backlash,

here is the trade that went doen: Salvador Perez and Pestano for Luroy and Chris Perez. Note that the team that had Salvador Perez has Pierzinsky, so he subtracts SP and adds Lucroy. I don’t know what kool aid they are drinking but I think it’s the same for the Electris Kool Aid Acid Tests of the 60’s. It’s like they bypassed reading Razzball and just signed up for the RCL leagues.

@Jack Full of Hate: There is no starting pitcher in that trade, he traded Chris Perez’s handcuff for Chris Perez. Trading for saves is probably dumb, but I don’t imagine there will be that big a difference between Sal Perez and Lucroy at the end of the year.

@DonSlaughtOnslaught: how do you figure that, Lucroy has had three good months in three years of service, last year that amazing June and August, july he was hurt, helped fuel his overall numbers. His upside is nice for a late round catcher, but at the end of the day Perez is a top 5 catcher talent who is going to bat in the 5 hole, maybe 4 if Hosmer struggles. It’s not even close for those two in the risk department.

@Jack Full of Hate: When you said “subtracting SP” I thought you were talking about starting pitcher, not Sal Perez. Dumb on my part. Point stands the trade was made for saves. Agree to disagree on Perez vs. Lucroy. ZIPS, Steamer and Oliver all have the two almost identical, Kotteras is gone from taking ABs, Lucroy is also going to hit 5th. No doubt Perez is better, but I think his hype is more than his production will be, personally.

Thanks Grey. When you say back end I assume you mean Lincecum? ( I know you are pretty high on Miller) It’s a shallow league so there are some decent #5 or #6 SP options on waivers like Griffin, Bailey, Millone,etc)

@Jack Full of Hate: Yes, thank you for inquiring about Carnac’s Kabobs. I’m currently marinating some kabobs with an ancient, secret recipe passed to my by a Bedouin used camel salesman. Also, I’ve been working on my own dry rub, but it doesn’t feel right yet. Wait, what?

I’ve mocked the 8th spot in a 10 team league so much now and I always seem to have the same choices. OPS replacing AVG. What’s the right path?

Round 1 (pick 8): 1B (Votto or Pujols)/Cargo/Stanton
Round 2 (pick 13): Longo/Fielder/Verlander/Beltre/Upton (Fielder is ranked 12, so I can’t be sure he’ll be there if I pass on a 1B in the first)
Round 3 (pick 28: Encarcion/Zimmerman/Jones

Half the time I draft Fielder is there at 13 (since people take Verlander who yahoo has ranked 13 now). If I could be sure he’d be there at 13, I’d take Stanton in the first right?

@DonSlaughtOnslaught: On Yahoo, Jones is ranked so that I always can get him with the 33rd pick. He’s the one player who lands perfectly for the 8th spot. The big question is always do I take Zimmerman in the third round or hope that I can get Aramis in the 7th. Zimmerman hasn’t done enough to inspire confidence in picking him in the 3rd when there are so many good players still out there.

So looks like I’ll go: Stanton/Longo/Encarcion/Jones, maybe get Zobrist in the 5th, and get Grienke and Moore/Scherzer/Zimmerman, then Choo.

I kicked things off by taking Braun at 46, and that was probably the only thing I did right all night. After seeing Trout go for 60 and Cano for 56, I got a little bid shy and deviated from my initial plan of going stars and scrubs. Bad move.

Here are some things I think I did well: Braun and Goldschmidt.
Here are some things I think are neither good nor bad: Ryan Zimmerman.
Here are some things I think I did poorly: Drafted 5 relievers, one of which is injured. Drafted Troy Tulowitzki despite making a sticky note with the following inscription: “Do not draft Troy Tulowitzki.” Drafted a bench hitter that’s good enough to start. Paid $8 for Kenley Jansen for s’s and g’s. Punted 2B and now have a gaping hole there.

I’m assuming that you aren’t thrilled with my team, but I wanted to hear what you think anyway. So what are your thoughts?

@Lastros: You look like you like the Mets… I don’t know why you’d say I wouldn’t like it… It looks fine, I don’t like Tulo but it only seemed to hurt your 2nd baseman… You do look like you need more starters though…

I plan on dropping Murphy. Do you think I should add Bonifacio or Gyorko?

I’m also going to drop Rondon because of his demotion to AAA. Here are some of the starters I could pick up: Hammel, Fiers, Cobb, Tillman, Griffin. I’m assuming not all of these pitchers will clear waivers, so how would you rank them for waiver priority purposes?

Just to be clear, that would be 1) Fiers, 2) Griffin, 3) Cobb, 4) Tillman, and 5) Hammel, right?

I ask because I read Fiers is competing for one of the final two spots in the rotation and because you wrote, “For full disclosure, I almost ranked Hammel about 35 spots higher” (and that’s me quoting you).

Yeah, I like Hammel a lot… Nice safe late round guy, but his upside is limited… I say don’t use a waiver pick because these guys are all interchangeable and are matchup type guys… I’d go Fiers for now… He could be out of the rotation, but has nice upside…

Looking for some help on who to stash on DL and which Middle reliever/future closers to add. I’ve got an empty spot on my team after moving Hart to DL (one more DL spot). Who would you target between Beachy, Hudson, and Lewis? Thinking Beachy.

I didn’t draft any closers, they went like hotcakes so I went SP/Hitters. Most of the typical middle relievers are off the board (no holds league). Which middle relievers would you target to help with ratios while you wait for them to become the eventual closer? One guy on my target list is Doolittle.

I’m old and don’t have that much time left….. Maybe even less than I had planned on if the revelation that this team will be found cut into the stone walls inside the Agrajag’s Cathedral of Hate sometime in the future, is true…

@Grey: you mean Guns, Germs and Steal by Jared Diamond?, most of it about 10 years as part of a large paper I had to write. he’s not the first of his kind, but the most popular contamporary. It’s on the bookshelf, cool looking cover. I think he still teaches at UCLA

@Grey: Having a history degree with a minor in cultural geography, which is worthless, I try to read about shizz they eithe don’t talk about, too easily dismiss or things that counter the BS world of Academia. Thats why I love my reader, I can get all the samples i want from B & N and can tell in the first 50 pages if something is worth reading, either bad writers or bad methodology, It’s cool. Other times I like reading some crazy conspiracy driven mumbo jumbo for S&G’s. What are you into, I might have some suggestions

@Grey: gotcha! If I can think of something good I will pass it along. lately i have doing ancient american archeology/ history stuff. It’s strange how hard America tries to preserve their “history” and how hard “science” does the same. Also some more geography based writing like Robert Kaplan.

I have heard of Gladwell and Bowden, i will put them on my list. You must read the non-fiction to inspire you with new ideas for your “professional” writing career

I have seen Ellroys books, always wanted to….thanks Razzball for enriching my life in other ways….You guys should do a reading list article series just to mess with the readers. Probably get a lot of people to pick up some good stuff.

@Jack Full of Hate: It’s the only Bowden I’ve read and it’s probably lesser-known than his others, but the Best Game Ever about the 1958 NFL Championship game between the Colts and the Giants is brilliant.

Steve should be in charge of the reading list… He’s good… I read Killing Pablo by Bowden, which was great… I’ve read all of Gladwell… I’d start at Blink and Outliers… They’ll probably only take a week to read… Depending on how much time you want to devote…

@Grey: i’d be lucky to get 30 minutes a day in…I’m a sucker for video games after a long day at work, which would take away from reading time….”Mom, I told you not to bother me when I’m in MY basement”

just manage the heck out of the team. Razzball RCL leagues are what you call “shallow” in dork speak. There will be plenty of opportunities during the season. Fight like heck. You are by no means eliminated. It’s actually kind of fun. Whatever you achieve with this team will be by the sweat of your brow.

Tigers aren’t going to name anybody right away. I don’t think Benoit will be in the mix. I think for some reason they think he’s comfortable in the 8th inning role and they figure even if they have instability in the 9th, they have stability in the 8th. It seems to me if they thought he could close they would just go ahead and name him.

I think the bulk of the chances will go to Coke and Dotel to start. I don’t think they think AL AL has the maturity or the consistency they are looking for. But I would also say he might have the best chance to end up the named closer just because of the stuff. If Coke and Dotel are meh, Al gets some chances and he runs with it.

Hearing some folks speculating that Smyly gets in the mix. What a crazy situation.

Another guy that you and I are both in on. Hit on Shelby Miller. If Dotel somehow locked this thing down, would be super, super sweet. I think there’s a possibility Coke needs to get used pre-9th inning for loogy duty. Maybe that gives Dotel an early couple of cracks. It’s really going to come down to who executes when they get a chance. But it’s probably going to be committee for awhile. Will take a lot of patience.

Great comments Grey. You should throw a Paypal link on your homepage (assuming there is not one there already). I am sure some of us would not mind making contributions- especially when you take the time to provide commentary regarding fantasy teams or trades. Keep up the good work.

@Jack Full of Hate:
One of my proudest moments as an older brother: Late 80’s and my brother comes home ecstatic that he was driving down Ventura Blvd and stopped at a red light. Alongside him pulls up Mike Seaver. He froze for a second, rolled down his window, made eye contact, then hocked a hefty loogie onto his windshield.

Looking for a set up man who could contribute but also who may be getting some SV’s sometime soon, here is whose on the wire:

D. Hernandez
S. Casilla
J McGee
J Broxton
J Benoit
Thornton
Bailey

That is basically the order I am looking at them, was just wondering peoples opinions. 6×6 league extra pitching is CG’s so doesn’t apply here. Also I just grabbed Jordany Valdespin, I think he could, could have a great year if the Mets play him full time. But as a fan of Flushing I should probably expect the Weurtz….

I appreciate the feedback. I just have Carpenter because he was a late round flyer and I like the position flexibility (and backup for Longoria’s eventual DL stint). Heard about Rondon earlier today, and will drop him once the season starts and just wait for the impeding Closerpacolypse before adding another reliever. Definitely wasn’t targeting Kennedy during my draft, but was fine with him where I got him.

Team looks okay, your hitting is a bit of a mess up the middle… I like your outfield a lot though… V-Mart doesn’t have C eligibility? If he does, lose Brantly… Pitching is better than it needs to be which has hurt your infield…

Yeah CBS claims they “caught the Vmart loophole” and correctly it. That screwed me up as I did not realize he was ineligible at the time. Excellent, accurate information from you… you really deserve some remuneration for your service! As I said, I would be happy to support your authors and site as would many others.

Your pitching doesn’t look terrible… Dempster and Lincecum leave some to be desired though… Your hitting looks great so that’s good… If only one of hitting and pitching are gonna be good, you want your hitting to be the one…

Thanks for the feedback. There’s a team in my league that’s long pitching but is relying on Carlos Santana at 1B – worth moving Goldschmidt if I could get a top pitcher and closer out of it, or would you sit tight for now?

That’s a good call. He will go back down when McCann comes back, so he’s both part time and short term. I’d keep an eye on the Hannigan Mesoroco situation. Mesoroco has improved his defense so they might beore willing to get his bat in there if he does well in back up duty.

I have Motte, Lawrie, Ortiz, Hughes that are destined for the DL. I am getting an ulcer waiting for their statuses to change on yahoo. I realize yahoo changes their status when their teams make it official. At the beginning of the season if a player is unquestionably starting the season on the DL, do their teams typically do this before their first game? After? We only get two moves per week so it’s crucial if I could DL these guys so I could fill holes this Sunday, and then have my 2 more moves on Monday to dL the other two…

I sort of punted top starting pitchers (esp after Gallardo went off the board before I wanted him), and loaded up in the middle to late rounds. Missed on Rutledge and Gyorko for my MI spots, so had to settle for SAGNOF guys (Escobar and Segura) and hope they don’t hurt me on AVG. Then I compensated by taking some late, cheap power (Reddick, Carter, Ludwick).

@Art Vandelay: I should note the league has 9 pitching slots that you can divide among SP and RP however you want. I just listed all of my starters here under SP, even though at least 3 will be on the bench on any given day.

@Grey: I meant I punted the top guys. I only drafted Greinke in the first 9-10 rounds. On Jackson, that is a difference between you and the Player Rater, which is pretty bullish on him. I was ok with it late in the draft. On the power front, I was afraid of that, but hoping Reddick and Carter will provide some pop. No sure thing, to be sure…

Curious on your view on AJ w/r/t head to head. Is it because he’s volatile?

Now its your turn! Argh, damn annoying ESPN draft program sound getting into my head again.

Anyway thoughts on my 10 team OBP contract keeper league team. This was the auction I missed the first hour (friggin DST change in the US!), and so ALL of the high priced studs were gone (and all I got autodrafted was C Santana, Kennedy, Pap and Andrus….BLECH!). The draft finished a few weeks back, but I’ve done some great business so far and managed to work 2 key trades for Hamilton and Wright (know you don’t love em but it was pretty much them or noone, and I still like both):

The highest price I paid at auction was on Paps autobid, there was noone worth any more by the time I entered the draft! Oh and typically I’ve had some bad injury luck early on (Freeze, Motte). If I win this year it will be a sheer miracle, but have I got a cat in hells chance? Probably not, but did I at least do a decent job of redeeming it? At least tell me that.

Yeah, you have a chance… You always do in 10 team leagues… You do look a tad light on power and if E5 doesn’t work then it could be trouble… I do like him though… I don’t love your pitching, but the league will be shallow enough where you can make some moves…

It’s the worst feeling ever isnt it when you turn up late to a money league draft and you’ve missed out on ALL the studs. I felt like packing it in for the year already, but decided just to bid on loads of mid-tier guys that were available, some by sheer necessity even if I didn’t like them much (Rios, Freese, Tex). So basically I’ve got a rotation full of no3’s…unique at least! Oh and ive got Samardija too.

Will be my most satisfying season though even if I take away 3rd prize this year! If I win, well you know what the banter will be between me and the others guys: “I missed the first hour of the draft, missing out on all the studs, and yet STILL beat you!” . I’d never let them live it down!

If you were going to deal one of these guys for prospects and/or potential breakouts in a reloading effort (our keepers are expanding from 12 to 18, no contracts), who would you dangle? Posey, Desmond, Victorino, Medlen, Street

@Vottomatic: from i think rotoworld, it’s likely to be solano at 6th, polanco at 2nd,brantly 4th, ruggiano 5th. I’m surprised with brantly’s previous avg and his batting pos he’s not liked at least a little more in fantasy rather than so many catchers, who bat 8th. I understand he has no power, but a man batting 4th with avg will get rbi’s, and some runs with ruggiano behind.

Grey, how much time would you say you spend crafting post subjects? It may be one of your lesser celebrated talents. Also, why am I being targeted by ads for theknot.com on Razzball? I thought I was safe here.

Here’s a more user friendly version of my draft last night.. (14 team ESPN H2h w/OPS, QS) You can see what I mean by too many bench bats.. in the late rounds there just weren’t any good bench pitching options available, as usual in this league where the owners tend to draft 3 SP in the first 6 rounds, which should tell you something.) Not much speed, I know, but I won the league last season while finishing last in steals so who knows.

Love the Family Plot reference! “I told you about danger, didn’t I? First it makes you sick, then when you get through it, it makes you very, very loving.” Try to work this quote into everyday conversation.

Shooting fish in a barrel, I know, but Berry’s annual bold predictions came out and he predicts Allen Craig as the #1 fantasy first baseman…which is totally fine. But immediately after that, his bold prediction for the Diamondbacks is that Au Shizz is the #1 fantasy first baseman. Is there a term for numerical illiteracy? If so, I think we just stumbled upon Berry’s problem. If not, we have still stumbled upon his problem, but we have to refer to it with the clunky, “numerical illiteracy.”

@Jack Full of Hate: Arithmophobia is the fear of numbers, so that could work. Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia is the fear of 666, which inflicts exactly zero Iron Maiden fans…how about numeralgia (numbers causing one pain)?

10 team 5×5, my 3B is Pablo and my U is Frazier. My BN consists of AJ Burnett, Milone and S. Miller. With Pablo’s day-to-day injury status, would it be safer to use a BN slot for recently dropped Lawrie or Machado? Or just hold?

Grey… had my last draft before the season starts and I (sadly) missed out on McCutchen again. Would you mind letting me know (a) your overall thoughts on the team as drafted below; and (b) if it’s ok to offer the McCutchen owner in my league Prince Fielder for McCutchen straight-up (assuming he’ll take it)?

Hello Grey! First timer… Have you got a name for Al Albequerque? I drafted him and suddenly I am thinking Twin Al, Alsqared, DoubleAl, and Doubal. Then I dropped him to pick up Boneface as I was lacking SBs. Great advice always, unfortunately by next year everyone in my league will be reading you!

@Grey: trying for balance with upside. also dealt with what I was able to grab. took frazier out of spite. He was my last pick, I almost had Gyorko but i took Burnett. hoping to score a MI as the season goes on. I didn’t think my speed was too heavy. *remember I am not using war room and trying to do this in my head.

@Jack Full of Hate: haha fuck youuuuu!!
:D i blame that on you… Naw jk, i really wanted a bat, i know the rules, but when i looked it was ten seconds left and i had sleepers in my queue so if i let it go i woulda got like frazier in the 2nd! so i just picked the best option i could find in ten seconds. ill take f her over frazier all day.. haha

Santana
Trumbo
phillips
lawrie( didnt even know he was hurt til now but got a okay deal i guess)
Asdrubal
Anderelton Simmons
Machado
Trout
A-jax
De Aza
Vicedo
Aaron Hicks
Micheal Young (dont ask)
BN – Eaton (last pick wat the hey, DL)
BN- Dunn (idk why i have so many white sox…. but i was in need of pop and the donkey of pop was there)

Just finished drafting. 10 team h2h 6×6 with OPS and QS as extras. As soon as mlb make them going to put garza and lawrie on dl. we have 3 dl slots. Was just wondering how I looked. Its a daily league and planned on streaming some. Wasn’t planning on drafting so many saves but they were so cheap at the end. I guess I should also mention its an ESPN league 13 bats 9 Pitchers.

OK, so here it is. To reiterate, 14 teams, H2H, 5×5 plus Holds and OBP. I had #5 pick and I’m going relievers only. I know I have way to many MRs, but I’ll be dropping those to add hitters as I need to depending on my matchup. I say this every year, but I’m pretty happy. I’d taker that hitting in a 14 teamer most days of the week…

I think the reliever only strategy made your hitting look incredible… Terrific hitting for 14 team… The pitching looks totally fine for your strategy… It’s gonna come down to how the pitching does, then next year everyone is gonna be doing this strategy in your league…

@Jack Full of Hate: Not expecting to win Ks, though I did grab some high K MR guys Jansen, Doolittle, Delabar). I may have to throw some starters if one of my relievers has a blowout to try and get my ratios down, but because we only have 10 adds a week, a lot of starting pitching gets drafted, so there’s not much out there.